AAP IV class sizes

[Anonymous]

Yes, for centers it’s completely dependent on school numbers. Our LIV numbers dropped significantly when one of our feeder schools became a center several years ago and the 2 others started LLIV programs.

Last year and this year we have a grade that has 1 LIV class and they are over 30. The grade above that has just enough LIV kids to require 2 teachers, so they’re at 18-19 kids.

I talked to a LIV at a nearby center school, and they are busting at the seams with multiple level IV teachers at each grade.

(For the PP who said they put level III kids in a level IV center class to fill it, I’m surprised. We were told at my center school that is not allowed under any circumstances!)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, for centers it’s completely dependent on school numbers. Our LIV numbers dropped significantly when one of our feeder schools became a center several years ago and the 2 others started LLIV programs.

Last year and this year we have a grade that has 1 LIV class and they are over 30. The grade above that has just enough LIV kids to require 2 teachers, so they’re at 18-19 kids.

I talked to a LIV at a nearby center school, and they are busting at the seams with multiple level IV teachers at each grade.

(For the PP who said they put level III kids in a level IV center class to fill it, I’m surprised. We were told at my center school that is not allowed under any circumstances!)

Our center is low SES (would be title I if not for the center). If gen ed was ever larger than the center classes, the principal would be hearing it from every direction, but it would never happen because he has a clear dislike for aap.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, for centers it’s completely dependent on school numbers. Our LIV numbers dropped significantly when one of our feeder schools became a center several years ago and the 2 others started LLIV programs.

Last year and this year we have a grade that has 1 LIV class and they are over 30. The grade above that has just enough LIV kids to require 2 teachers, so they’re at 18-19 kids.

I talked to a LIV at a nearby center school, and they are busting at the seams with multiple level IV teachers at each grade.

(For the PP who said they put level III kids in a level IV center class to fill it, I’m surprised. We were told at my center school that is not allowed under any circumstances!)

I'm the PP - I was surprised, too! We were glad though. We like AAP and think our kid needs it, but it sucks that friends who aren't in AAP will never be in your class! Pleasantly surprised that wasn't the case this past year.

[Anonymous]

Maybe a better question than class size is whether AAP will have a better teacher:student ratio?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe a better question than class size is whether AAP will have a better teacher:student ratio?

Again, no way to know. Our overall student:teacher ratio for AAP is like 25:1 but that’s not representative, because we have classes with 30+ and classes with 18.

If your school has at least 2 level IV classes per grade level all the way through 6th, and especially if there are 3 classes per grade, the numbers will be a bit more stable year to year. It’s that wobbling back and forth from 1 overcrowded class to 2 very small classes each year that makes it so uncertain at my school.

[Anonymous]

Our local level IV is way too big, most of the kids there are level III that go to Gen ED for math. Some general ed kids come in for math but the AAP class is much larger than the general classes. Not great for AAP teachers.

[Anonymous]

I’ve had kids in an AAP center for the past 6 years and they both always had 3-4 classes of AAP with 27-30 kids ever year. One of the feeder schools now has a LLIV so they send less kids to the center so sometimes there are 3 classes instead of 4 in a grade. But still big classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, that's not the case. In most LLIV schools, the LLIV classes are filled out with pupil-placed students to even out the class sizes across grades. Parents would be livid if the AAP class was smaller than the other classes.

I would guess that Centers are different because AAP and GenEd/PBL are essentially treated as two different programs within the same school, so they probably try to ensure all AAP classes are the same size and all GenEd/PBL classes are the same size.

Last year at my school, the AAP class was 16. Gen ed was 27. But there just weren’t more kids who could be reasonably placed in AAP. The center schools really do muck things up by pulling so many students away with parents thinking the centers are superior. Funny though that I’ve met several AAP teachers who have taught at the center and at the local and they find the quality of education and expectations of students to be much higher at the local level IV schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our local level IV is way too big, most of the kids there are level III that go to Gen ED for math. Some general ed kids come in for math but the AAP class is much larger than the general classes. Not great for AAP teachers.

This is terrible. Send your kid to the center.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, that's not the case. In most LLIV schools, the LLIV classes are filled out with pupil-placed students to even out the class sizes across grades. Parents would be livid if the AAP class was smaller than the other classes.

I would guess that Centers are different because AAP and GenEd/PBL are essentially treated as two different programs within the same school, so they probably try to ensure all AAP classes are the same size and all GenEd/PBL classes are the same size.

Last year at my school, the AAP class was 16. Gen ed was 27. But there just weren’t more kids who could be reasonably placed in AAP. The center schools really do muck things up by pulling so many students away with parents thinking the centers are superior. Funny though that I’ve met several AAP teachers who have taught at the center and at the local and they find the quality of education and expectations of students to be much higher at the local level IV schools.

That seems like a good way to get parents badgering regional superintendents

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, that's not the case. In most LLIV schools, the LLIV classes are filled out with pupil-placed students to even out the class sizes across grades. Parents would be livid if the AAP class was smaller than the other classes.

I would guess that Centers are different because AAP and GenEd/PBL are essentially treated as two different programs within the same school, so they probably try to ensure all AAP classes are the same size and all GenEd/PBL classes are the same size.

Last year at my school, the AAP class was 16. Gen ed was 27. But there just weren’t more kids who could be reasonably placed in AAP. The center schools really do muck things up by pulling so many students away with parents thinking the centers are superior. Funny though that I’ve met several AAP teachers who have taught at the center and at the local and they find the quality of education and expectations of students to be much higher at the local level IV schools.

I think I know your school and it's not representative. You got an outlier, and not in a good way.

[Anonymous]

I've had a kids a local program and center program.

The one in local had 30+ kids from grade 4-6 as they were all in the 1 AAP class. While the gen ed classes hovered in the mid 20s.

The one in center - had 2 AAP classes and 3 gen eds. All the classes were in the low to mid 20s. Never had the overcrowding issues as we did in the local program.

[Anonymous]

This year, I will teach three sections of LIV (middle school). They currently have 32, 31, and 26 students. My other classes, both general education, currently have 30 and 29 students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, that's not the case. In most LLIV schools, the LLIV classes are filled out with pupil-placed students to even out the class sizes across grades. Parents would be livid if the AAP class was smaller than the other classes.

I would guess that Centers are different because AAP and GenEd/PBL are essentially treated as two different programs within the same school, so they probably try to ensure all AAP classes are the same size and all GenEd/PBL classes are the same size.

Last year at my school, the AAP class was 16. Gen ed was 27. But there just weren’t more kids who could be reasonably placed in AAP. The center schools really do muck things up by pulling so many students away with parents thinking the centers are superior. Funny though that I’ve met several AAP teachers who have taught at the center and at the local and they find the quality of education and expectations of students to be much higher at the local level IV schools.

I've had my own children attend both centers and LLIV, and at least for middle school, the LLIV program was far superior to the center.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This year, I will teach three sections of LIV (middle school). They currently have 32, 31, and 26 students. My other classes, both general education, currently have 30 and 29 students.

In elementary school, this would be the tough class with the tough students. Not sure if that holds for middle school.